Definitely follow the advice to speak with the prosecutor first and then ask for public defender.

Also make sure to have the Dash-Cam Footage Subpoenaed. As the other's said ask the officer to recall which bike specifically you were on, the color of the bike, your clothing, etc. Then have the Dash-Cam footage reviewed. There will be large discrepancies, in his story and the tape. Voila!

You said he was chasing you so I'm assuming he is claiming he paced you and did not clock you on radar so its basically your word against his. I'm not familiar with AZ law but it should state in the statute he is required to be behind you for a minimum distance traveling at the same speed.

I would call a few lawyers and explain the situation and get their fees. All three of you need to go to court together and plead not guilty and explain the situation. Make sure you tell the judge you guys did not know the other riders and they were speeding and caught up to you guys then took off when they saw the cop.

You should be able to get off depending on if the judge wants to be a dick.

Keep pleading not guilty and take it to a jury trial if you have to. It costs the court a lot of money for a jury trial and they may dismiss it in the best interest of the court. Make sure you keep your cases together. The word of three witnesses is much stronger than just yours against the cop. If he did clock you on radar make sure you ask for the calibration certification for the radar. They have to be calibrated yearly and ask for the officers license to operate the radar.

My court date is on the same day as the other two guys that pulled over with me. I'm not sure if that would help or hurt my case. If the judge sees that the officer had no proof for their ticket then it seems like mine would be the same.

And yes, fuck group rides. No more.

Id say if you go with the other two it could end up just like the ride. One of them gets an attitude or just says something dumb and the judge decides to go tough on him. And since youre with him hell decide to go tough on you too. IMO it would be smarter to go by yourself.

What is the penalty for that ticket? I never saw you say. Like fine amount, do you lose points, is your license suspended? Ever thought of just eating the ticket? By the time you pay for a lawyer and miss a day of work you might be better off just paying

If he did clock you on radar make sure you ask for the calibration certification for the radar. They have to be calibrated yearly and ask for the officers license to operate the radar.

Good luck hope this helps.
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my state (MS) our officers running radar have to check calibration 3 times a day. 1st before the shift starts 2nd around lunch and 3rd at the end of the shift all are done with a tuning fork which isn't off. now if any of these three times the radar is off within 2mph the "unit" (radar) has to be taken into the shop to be re-calibrated

I'm not a lawyer, but I do know I do know Trey! I have no idea about the specifics in AZ, but I know when I was 20 I got out of a ticket like this because the LEO said I was going 100+. At the time that was not a legal way to cite someone, you needed a specific speed to be clocked. I think it helped that the magistrate went to school with my mom. He told me what to say beforehand.

my state (MS) our officers running radar have to check calibration 3 times a day. 1st before the shift starts 2nd around lunch and 3rd at the end of the shift all are done with a tuning fork which isn't off. now if any of these three times the radar is off within 2mph the "unit" (radar) has to be taken into the shop to be re-calibrated

They have to be calibrated during the shift with tunning forks but they also have to be sent in to get calibrated yearly to get certified. Or is that not required anymore? I could be wrong its been a while.

Thanks rp. Under speed measurement device on the ticket it says "other". Wtf does that mean? Car? It wasn't radar.
And spike the section number is 28-701.02A3 96-100. Statute says ARS.
And some mentioned getting a public defender. I wish I could but that's only if your offense requires mandatory jail time if convicted.

Criminal Speeding is a Class 3 CRIMINAL misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a $500 fine plus surcharges, and 1 year probation. These are the maximum penalties available to the Court, and you are unlikely to receive such a sentence, but the offense is a criminal one, and will be reported as such. If at all possible, it would be best to try to negotiate the offense down to a CIVIL one, preferably, with the opportunity to resolve completely with your successful completion of Defensive Driving School.

Step 1 is to talk with the prosecutor. If this all went down exactlty as you describe, then calmly explain that. Be calm, and professional. Don't bad mouth the cop, or even imply anything negative. Simply tell them what happened, just the facts, none of the "I think the cop was chasing the other two guys". Ask what "other" means on the ticket, and explain that you wanted to ask the issuing officer but he didn't know since the officer involved departed the area before the ticket was issued.

Make it clear that this was just a misunderstanding, no hard feelings about the cop/city/govn't/court system/etc/etc and you just want to clear the situation up before the prosecutor and police spend (don't say 'waste') time on it.

Thanks rp. Under speed measurement device on the ticket it says "other". Wtf does that mean? Car? It wasn't radar.
And spike the section number is 28-701.02A3 96-100. Statute says ARS.
And some mentioned getting a public defender. I wish I could but that's only if your offense requires mandatory jail time if convicted.

If he marked "other" he is claiming he paced you. There is no way he could have paced you by his own admission he was traveling 100+ to catch up to you and got cut off by another vehicle. If you were traveling 100+ how fast would that officer have to go to have caught you. So basically he took a wild guess based off how fast he was traveling to catch up to you.

Read the statute, it should say in there how far the officer has to pace you to get an accurate determination of your speed.

As far as the dash cam goes don't hold your breath on that one. They don't record automatically and I doubt they will give you access.

You should rate a public defender since the judge can impose jail time but it would be a waste of time. He's not going to fight to get you off. He will just stand up there and tell the judge your plea and "might" offer you advice.

Go up there and plead not guilty and make the officer convince the judge how fast you were going. If you can take it to a jury trial.

Make sure you dress and look professional since we all know sport bike riders have a rep of being law breaking punk kids.

Ok If you can prove that you weren't speeding then you've won the case hands down IE speed recorder camera vid w/time and date etc...The officer will have to prove that you where guilty: Speed gun & its accuracy, If he was the witness to the crime, and if he was the on duty officer whom witnessed the crime if any crime actually happened. not to mentioned if he even shows up to court. Good luck my friend your innocence should help.

They have to be calibrated during the shift with tunning forks but they also have to be sent in to get calibrated yearly to get certified. Or is that not required anymore? I could be wrong its been a while.

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you are absolutely correct on this once a year mandatory calibration, and checked 3 times per day in my state MS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rp94pj

As far as the dash cam goes don't hold your breath on that one. They don't record automatically and I doubt they will give you access.

Make sure you dress and look professional .
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false most dash cams now are set to come on with the "blues" and our cars also the camera comes on when we reach 100mph its hard wired so it does it automatically. Unless we flip the switch under the dash to kill all the electronics

They have to be calibrated during the shift with tunning forks but they also have to be sent in to get calibrated yearly to get certified. Or is that not required anymore? I could be wrong its been a while.

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Back in the day, late 80's & running MPH K-55 units.
We had (2) tuning forks, one was "25 MPH" & the other "65 MPH".
You calibrated it using both at the beginining of shift & I always calibrated the unit after every ticket.

you are absolutely correct on this once a year mandatory calibration, and checked 3 times per day in my state MS.

false most dash cams now are set to come on with the "blues" and our cars also the camera comes on when we reach 100mph its hard wired so it does it automatically. Unless we flip the switch under the dash to kill all the electronics

Good to know. I know the ones being used in my town can be turned on by pushing a button on the officer's shoulder mic.

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